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RACE INFORMATION

Kyle Busch wins XFINITY race at Indianapolis: #54-Kyle Busch won the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his 72nd NASCAR XFINITY Series win. He passed #22-Ryan Blaney on the final lap to take the win. Blaney finished second, followed by #18-Daniel Suarez, #33-Paul Menard, #1-Elliott Sadler, #88-Kevin Harvick, #42-Kyle Larson, #7-Regan Smith, #3-Ty Dillon, and #9-Chase Elliott.
Points leader #60-Chris Buescher finished 16th.
There were only 3 cautions for 16 laps and 8 lead changes among 6 leaders. Complete results are on the Indianapolis race results page (pdf).
See OFFICIAL race results & points standings on the Official Indianapolis Race & Points Report (pdf).(7-25-2015)

Indianapolis XFINITY Race Fast Facts:
Kyle Busch(i) won the 4th Annual Lilly Diabetes 250, his 72nd victory in 301 NASCAR XFINITY Series races.
This is his second victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2015.
This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in four races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ryan Blaney (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2015.
Daniel Suarez (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Daniel Suarez (third) was the highest finishing rookie.
Chris Buescher leads the point standings by 25 points over Chase Elliott.
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(7-25-2015)

QUALIFYING, PRACTICE, AND ENTRY INFORMATION

Kyle Busch on XFINITY pole at Indianapolis: #54-Kyle Busch won the Coors Light pole for the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a track record speed of 180.527mph. #18-Daniel Suarez will start second. The rest of the top 10: #20-Erik Jones, #62-Brendan Gaughan, #33-Paul Menard, #1-Elliott Sadler, #2-Brian Scott, #98-Aric Almirola, #3-Ty Dillon, and #42-Kyle Larson. Did Not Qualify: None. The starting lineup is posted on the Indianapolis starting lineup page (pdf).(7-25-2015)

Indianapolis XFINITY Qualifying Notes:
Kyle Busch(i) won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 4th Annual Lilly Diabetes 250 with a lap of 49.854 seconds, 180.527 mph.
This is his 44th pole in 301 NASCAR XFINITY Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2015.
This is his third pole in four races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Daniel Suarez (second) posted his 14th top-10 start of 2015 and his first in one races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Erik Jones(i) (third) posted his first top-10 start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is his 14th in 16 races this season.
Daniel Suarez (second) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(7-25-2015)

XFINITY Entry List: There are 40 cars on the preliminary entry list for Saturday's Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A few notes:
Derek White is in the #13;
BJ McLeod is entered in the #15;
Erik Jones will drive the JGR #20;
Ryan Blaney will be in the #22 for Penske;
Timmy Hill will drive the #26;
Kyle Busch is in the #54;
Kevin Harvick will drive the #88 for JR Motorsports;
Aric Almirola returns to the #98.
Not yet entered, but expected: #74-Harmon.(7-18-2015)UPDATE: #74-Mike Harmon has been added.(7-20-2015)UPDATE: Alex Bowman will drive the #25 in place of John Wes Townley.(7-23-2015)UPDATE: Stanton Barrett will be in the #15 for Rick Ware.(7-23-2015)UPDATE: BJ MeLeod will drive the #13, Josh Reaume will be in the #40.(7-24-2015)
See the complete list on the Indianapolis entry list page.

XFINITY Qualifying procedure for 2015: In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, cars starting in positions 1-33 will be determined by their fastest single lap during qualifying in descending order with the fastest qualifier starting first. The next six positions will first be assigned to the highest ranking cars in owner points that have attempted all of the races, have not already earned a starting position through qualifying and have entered the event by the posted entry deadline. The final starting position will be awarded to the most recent eligible past champion driver. If there is no eligible past champion driver, then a seventh car will make the field based upon owner points.
Prior to this enhancement, the top 30 cars in owner points were guaranteed a starting spot in each event. Now, a maximum of seven cars will be locked into a given NASCAR XFINITY Series race. If a qualifying session is cancelled because of inclement weather, the field will be set per the rule book with starting lineups determined by practice speeds.

GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

Set limits:
Sprint Cup: 8 sets for practice/qualifying and 9 sets for the race;
Xfinity: 8 sets for the event

Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire codes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week . . . these teams have run this right-side tire code (D-4476) at IMS since
2012 . . . this is a brand new left-side tire code (D-4650) . . . compared to what was run at Indianapolis last year, this left-side features compound and construction changes that will give the cars more grip . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at The Brickyard on April 27-28 . . . drivers taking part part in that test were Jeff Gordon, Sam Hornish, Martin Truex Jr., and J.J. Yeley . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams will run inner liners in all four tire positions at Indianapolis . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

NASCAR NEWS & NOTES

Indianapolis Is The Next Stop For The Dash 4 Cash

Four talented championship contending drivers will race to win a $100,000 bonus this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in the second round of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash program. Chris Buescher, Regan Smith, Brendan Gaughan and Chase Elliott will compete for the added cash bonus at Indianapolis in the Lilly Diabetes 250 on July 25 (on NBC at 3:30 p.m. ET). The top finisher among the four will win the bonus.

Of the four, Regan Smith has had the most success in the Dash 4 Cash program, having already won two rounds in his career - earlier this season at Dover and last season at New Hampshire.

Series standings leader Chris Buescher and 2014 series champion Chase Elliott have been on another level performance-wise this season and both finished in the top-12 in their series debuts at IMS last season.

Gaughan has an average finish of 14.4 through the first 17 races this season. Gaughan has especially run strong the last eight races, finishing in the top-10 four times. He has run two races at Indy, a 35th-place finish in the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup event and a 19th in last year’s XFINITY Series race.

The top finisher of the four at Indianapolis, plus the highest finishing three NASCAR XFINITY Series championship contending drivers in the Lilly Diabetes 250 will qualify for the third round of the Dash 4 Cash program at Bristol Motor Speedway and a chance at another $100,000 cash bonus.

Sunoco Rookie Update: Suarez Takes Rookie Standings Lead From Wallace

Following his seventh top-10 finish of the season last weekend at New Hampshire, Daniel Suarez has taken the Sunoco Rookie of the Year points lead from Darrell Wallace Jr. by three points as the series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 18th race of the season.

The Drive for Diversity graduates, Suarez and Wallace, have been battling for the rookie points lead for most of the season. The two standouts have risen above the rest of the 2015 rookie class as both drivers are the only rookies in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings top 10.

In 17 starts this season Suarez, a Monterrey, Mexico native, has posted three top fives, seven top 10s and a pole. His average finish is 14.0.

Wallace’s season also has seen success. In 17 starts he has posted one top five, seven top 10s and a pole.

Both Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates will be making their series track debut at Indianapolis this weekend.

Elliott Chipping Away At Buescher’s Standings Lead

Point standing leads can be a tricky thing. One day they are here, the next they vanish. All it takes is one bad finish or one DNF and an insurmountable lead could vanish.

Unfortunately for Chase Elliott, he can’t wait on a bad finish from the consistent standings leader Chris Buescher. So, in all likelihood, he’ll need to win.
Elliott gained five points on Buescher in the standings this past weekend with his ninth-place finish at New Hampshire.

Still waiting on his first victory in 2015, Elliott has posted seven top fives, 13 top 10s (series most), and an average finish of 9.5.

This weekend Elliott will look to better last year’s Indy performance, when he started fifth and finished 12th.

Dillon’s Time To Rebound Is Now

Defending Lilly Diabetes 250 winner, Ty Dillon is rolling into Indianapolis Motor Speedway hoping this weekend can be the spark that can reignite his NASCAR XFINITY Series championship run this season.

After leading the series standings for six races earlier this season Dillon has hit a mid-season skid falling to third in the standings, 38 points behind standings leader Chris Buescher and seven points behind second-place Chase Elliott.

But this weekend could change all that. Dillon’s win at Indianapolis last year was no fluke. In his two starts at the 2.5-mile speedway he has posted an average finish of 2.0. And in last season’s victory he led 24 laps (third-most of the event).

Dillon’s pre-race Loop Data stats point to IMS as the perfect place to rebound from his recent standings slide. He is ranked first among championship contenders in driver rating (119.2) and in average running position (6.295).

Jones and Dillon Have A Busy Week Ahead

Two rising stars in the NASCAR national series ranks will have the opportunity to race on the dirt in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday night and then again in the NASCAR XFINITY Series on the bricks at one of the most historic facilities in the sport, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Amongst the corn fields of Ohio sits Eldora Speedway where Ty Dillon will compete for GMS Racing in the No. 33 Chevrolet and then climb into the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet at Indianapolis later in the week. Dillon is the defending winner of Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis.

Jones will strap into the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota at Eldora Wednesday night, and then jump in to last weekend’s winning car, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his 16th NASCAR XFINITY Series start of the season. This will be Jones’ series track debut at IMS.

Jones has made 15 NXS starts this season posting two wins, eight top fives and 10 top 10s.

Stars Line Up For IMS XFINITY Race

Along with the stars of the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship contenders vying for the win this weekend will be five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers looking to deny them the spoils of victory. Those drivers are Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Paul Menard and Aric Almirola.

JR Motorsports welcomes back their most successful driver this season, Kevin Harvick. Harvick will be in the No. 88 Chevrolet with crew chief David Elenz atop the Pit Box. Harvick has made seven starts this season posting two wins, three top fives, five top 10s and an average finish of 7.1.

Harvick has made two series starts at IMS posting two top fives and an average finish of 4.5.

For the third week in a row Kyle Busch will be competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota. Busch has been stout since his return from his injury posting a win at Michigan, a third-place finish at Kentucky and a fourth-place finish at New Hampshire last weekend.

Busch has made three series starts at Indianapolis posting one win (2013), two top fives and an average finish of 8.3.

Kyle Larson returns to HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet this weekend at Indianapolis for his sixth start of the season. Larson’s previous five have seen one top five and four top 10s.

Larson has made two NASCAR XFINITY Series starts at IMS posting an average finish of 9.5 - including his series career best finish of eighth at the 2.5-mile track last season.

Paul Menard, who won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis in 2011, will be back in the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet this weekend with crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. This will be Menard’s fourth race of the season; in his previous three starts he has posted two top fives. Menard finished sixth in this event at IMS last season.

Aric Almirola is back in the No. 98 Ford for car owner Fred Biagi this weekend. Almirola has made seven starts this season, posting three top-10s. This will be Almirola’s series track debut at IMS.